Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Song of the Week: Hasil Adkins - High School Confidential

This is the stuff of legends. Hasil Adkins was raised, performed and died in Boone County, West Virginia. Starting in the 50s, a young Hasil started recording himself performing his own rock-n-roll songs and a few covers as well. He recorded them himself in a shack near his house. But more than that, he played everything himself. The drums, the guitar and the singing. But more than that, he did it in one take. Yep, Hasil (pronounced like HASSLE) was a live one man band with a tape machine in a chicken shack in West Virginia. His songs became the stuff underground cult collectors lapped up. Songs about chickens (lots and lots of chickens), suicide, decapitation and murder. Some songs about hot dogs too. It's the kind of stuff that led the Cramps to cover him and for other performers, such as Scott Biram, to tip their hat to him. Here Hasil and his one man band perform Jerry Lee Lewis' High School Confidential. It was recorded in the waning days of the 1950s. Enjoy.